


Sweet thoughts on a Sunday afternoon (you stay on my mind)

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Best Friends, Domestic Fluff, Gen, Hanging Out, Homework, Napping, Post-Power Rangers (2017), Sleep Deprivation, Sleepiness, Studying, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, Video & Computer Games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 09:08:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21051866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: Somehow Billy's basement became the designated hang-out spot, and even though he had to make some adjustments for his comfort, they made it work. But now Jason is taking an out-of-character nap and everyone is worried about him, all for different reasons.He's also got homework that needs doing. But he's sleeping instead. Of course, his friends aren't going to let him get another few days of detention just because he was taking a well-deserved nap instead of studying, are they?





	Sweet thoughts on a Sunday afternoon (you stay on my mind)

**Author's Note:**

> This could have been longer, but I thought that almost 4,000 words were too much and I thought it was better to cut it off a little short. I hope you liked this! I didn't want to make it so extreme, but really, it makes sense. I hope you like it- it was a good idea when I wrote it, and I hope you guys think so too. I really like how it turned out. Also, thinking about names for teachers is really hard, so I just used the names of my own teachers. Mr Gleeson is the name of my year 9 history teacher and Mrs Kno-Yu is one of the teachers at my uni. So there you go.  
Also, god do you know HOW MANY TITLES I WENT THROUGH?? SO DAMN MANY.

Zack and Billy were sitting side by side on the couch in Billy’s basement, playing video games on the TV. His mum was working upstairs, taking phone calls and writing spreadsheets, and they were leaving her be and giving her space. She had insisted that she didn’t need it and the company was welcome, but both Billy and Zack knew when mothers were trying to hide exhaustion and had gone downstairs anyway.

Jason was asleep on the other side of the couch, curled up tightly and snoring, twisted so he didn’t touch Billy in his sleep, which Billy appreciated. The ladies were coming a little later after they went for their weekly work out session, and they had already been notified to enter quietly so they didn’t wake Jason.

He’d been worn out more than usual lately, and despite Billy trying to ignore the way he snored, he was thankful that Jason had felt safe enough to just... fall asleep. It was sudden and a little surprising. They were in the middle of a conversation about upgrading the training simulations in the Pit, and then Billy had turned to Zack to give him some background information about the game he was currently trying to set up on the Playstation, and when Billy had turned back to Jason to continue his conversation, Jason was just... asleep. They’d dimmed the lights and lowered the volume on the game when Jason had stirred.

It had been a long time since Billy had turned on the Playstation. 7 years, in fact. All the games he owned were multiplayer games because he used to play it with his dad all the time, and when his dad died, he didn’t have any other friends to come over and play with him, so he focused on building and repairing things instead. Any hobby he had picked up from his dad, so Billy wasn’t too sad about no longer being able to play the console they had built together, because he got to go down to the mine and build all the projects his dad hadn’t had the time to finish and got to repair all the things that Billy had probably broken when he was younger.

But no friends meant no Playstation, which meant that Billy had no need for that whole corner of the room and had blocked it up with a corkboard on a frame that he could just wheel around wherever, and that was now pushed to the side blocking view of the tools and project’s on Billy’s worktable so nobody could touch or move his things. That had been Kim’s idea- he hadn’t wanted his basement to become the designated hang out mostly because he was afraid that his friends would accidentally mess up the careful organisation of his workbench, so she had suggested moving the room around so the couch faced the dusty TV and the corkboard covered the bench, and that way they could play games or watch TV and not even go near Billy’s things. He was grateful for that.

“Hey, dude, pay attention,” Zack laughed from his side of the couch, furiously button mashing the controller and snapping Billy out of his reverie, tongue sticking out of his mouth. “I’m kicking your ass!”

“Not so loud,” Billy chided as he got his head back in the game, focusing on the colours on the dimmed screen. They had dimmed the lights so Jason could sleep, but they had dimmed the TV so Billy didn’t have to wince at all the flashing, vibrant colours. “Jason’s sleeping. Don’t wake him.”

Zack paused for just a second to glance around Billy and at Jason, almost painfully curled up in the corner of the couch, drooling onto the old cushions. “I can’t believe he’s still asleep,” he observed, returning his attention to the game. "I'm still a little surprised that he fell asleep in the first place, to be honest.”

“He’s been working hard,” Billy said absently. “Leading the team is no small thing, and I think schoolwork has been kicking his ass. I’m pretty sure Mr Gleeson assigned him an extra load of history homework because he forgot to hand in his last assignment on time, and he’s also got some things to do for Mrs Kon-Yu for English, so he’s been up late studying.”

“But Jason _hates_ history,” Zack commented.

“Which is why he’s staying up so late doing it,” Billy replied. “A lot of people have trouble with procrastination, not that I can really relate, but I understand that sometimes people have difficulty starting projects. I don’t...”

He trailed off when Jason twitched and grumbled something under his breath, eyes still shut tight. They both turned to watch him for a moment, their game momentarily forgotten, until he stilled and relaxed once more.

Upstairs, they heard Billy’s mum’s high-heeled-shoes clicking loudly against the floorboards as she made her way to the front door. Moments later, she was joined by two more pairs of footsteps that made their way towards the stairs that led down to the basement. “They’re here,” Billy said unhelpfully, but thankfully, Zack didn’t comment about the useless information.

The door opened, and two people decided the stairs. Trini and Kim were still in their work-out clothes, jackets thrown on to dull the chill form the recent wind, and they both crept carefully down the squeaky stairs so they didn’t wake up the sleeping Jason. “Holy shit,” Kim said when she made it to the landing and dropped her bag in the corner. “He’s still asleep?”

“We were just saying that,” Billy pointed out. “He’s really tired.”

Trini followed Kim’s lead and dumped her bag in the corner before entering further into the room. “I told your mum not to call out, just in case he was still sleeping,” she explained to Billy, who’d actually been wondering why he didn’t hear her usual announcement. To the rest of the group, she said. “He’s been training late at the Pit, too. Later than normal, at least. Zordon cracked the whip and told him he was slacking off and not doing a good enough job of being a good leader and that he should be ‘leading by example’ or something, so he’s been down there a lot. I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but he doesn’t want to.”

“I hope nothing’s going on at home,” Kim mumbled to herself as she walked over to where Jason was sleeping. She looked around the room, glaring subtlety at Zack. “It’s freezing! Why didn’t you give him a blanket or something? Billy, are there any blankets or anything down here?”

Honestly, Billy hadn’t felt the cold, but Zack had the grace to look guilty enough for both of them. “Sorry, I didn’t think about it.”

Thankfully, Kim didn’t need Billy’s help in finding a blanket, because Billy wouldn’t have been able to find one if she had asked. She tossed it over Jason, and dusty as it was, Jason seemed to relax his curled up position ever so slightly. “That’s why he was doing that,” Billy observed, mostly to himself. He hadn’t noticed. From the other side of the room, Trini laughed quietly.

When Kim was finished tucking Jason in, being extremely careful not to wake him in the slightest, she moved to one of the other empty recliners opposite from Trini and flopped onto it, not minding the dust that burst out of the old cushions. Billy hadn’t had guests over in a while. “What are we playing?”

“Alien vs Predator,” Zack replied, eyes glued to the screen. Trini made a face. “It came out in like, 2010 or something. I think next we’re going to try Portal One or Red Dead Redemption. There are a lot of retro games down here.”

“Super Meat Boy,” Billy supplied helpfully, in case the girls wanted to hear any other options. “Dungeon Defenders. Dragons Nest. Illyriad.”

Kim was making a face at the screen. “I haven’t heard of any of those.”

“I think they all came out in 2010,” Trini said. “I don’t remember all of them, but I think Super Meat Boy was big for a while.”

They watched the boys play in silence for a while, nothing but Zack’s strained grunting and Jason’s soft snoring to break the silence over the low volume of the TV, but after a while, Kim stood and made her way to the corkboard that blocked off half of the room. “I’m bored, and you guys can't play for shit,” she said, looking over all the string and pictures all pinned tightly to the cork. “What’s all this for, Billy?”

“Oh, it’s for my project for geography,” Billy replied. “Nothing special. It’s not finished yet anyway, so I might have to start again.”

Kim looked at it for a few more moments before turning away and crouching down by the TV, checking out all the games resting by the console on the bottom. She liked looking at all the cover art, even if she didn’t understand all the premises of the games. “When do you think Jason is going to wake up?” she said idly, trying not to sound like she was worried.

“Who knows?” Trini shifted in her recliner so her legs were hanging over the arms and her hair was almost touching the floor. She stretched her arms above her head, almost like a lazy cat dozing in the sun. “Maybe when we wake him, maybe when he gets a phone call from his dad, maybe when there’s an attack we need to run to. Either way, I vote that we try not to wake him until it’s important.”

“He’s been staying up late doing homework,” Billy repeated his conversation with Zack earlier because the ladies weren’t there for that and he considered it important information. “Mr Gleeson gave him a double load of history homework for not turning in an assignment and so did Mrs Kon-Yu for English, so he’s been staying up late studying. It’s a lot to keep up with.”

Kim was frowning now. “I mean, I’m not that great with history, but I could help him with English if he asked.”

“He was doing maths in detention yesterday,” Trini said. “Said it was kicking his ass, too. I offered to help, but he didn’t want any. I think he just needed a nap. It explains why he’s been so grumpy these past few days.”

Zack whistled lowly. “Whoa, that’s three subjects due by Wednesday. No wonder he’s out cold.”

Yawning, Trini curled up in herself, fitting snugly in the recliner. “You know what, I can’t blame him. I think I might take a power nap myself. Now, are we playing games, or are we just being weirdoes talking about our sleeping friend?”

Billy didn’t think that they were being weird- just that they were being concerned. But sometimes he didn’t quite get that. It could have been a joke to break the tension, or she could have been serious, but either way, Billy turned back to the screen and watched the muted dancing colours blare across the screen. “Do you want to have a turn next?” he offered the girls. “We can even change the game if you’d like.”

From where she was still crouched on the floor, Kim squinted at one of the covers she was holding. “What’s Medal of Honour?”

“Multi-player game,” Billy said. “First-person shooter. A little like Call of Duty, which I think is also there.”

After a moment, Kim nodded and placed the cover on the stand beside the TV for later. “Cool,” she said, standing up and dusting off her leggings. “I’ll try that next. Trin, you want in with me?”

“Sure,” Trini yawned, sitting up a little. “I can’t promise that I won’t be shit, but I’ll give it a go.”

Kim searched around the room. “Until then... has anyone seen his book bag? I’ll see what I can get a start on for him.”

“It’s by my desk,” Billy replied, already back in the game. “I’ve already done all his history and his maths. I didn’t understand the English stuff. Something to do with a book I don’t have.”

Once she had found it and dragged it back to her spot on the recliner, Kim started pulling out all the homework crammed in there and placed it on her lap. There were crushed papers and scribbled notes and a novel that had its cover bent and on the verge of ripping. “That boy...” she mumbled to herself. “I swear to god, somebody needs to teach him the art of being clean.” She dug a little deeper until she came across a book with a simple red and white cover and squinted at the title. “Animal Farm? God, his class is behind. I did this last term. This should be easy... if I can find the assignment sheet in this _mess_.”

Trini was laughing at her from the other side of the room in her own recliner as Kim pulled out Jason’s ratty pencil case and searched for a pen to use and one of his English workbooks to write in. “You’ll be fine. Besides, you’re his only hope at this point. If you don’t get it done, it’ll never get done.”

“I hate that you’re right,” Kim said as she glared at all the documents crushed into the bag and her shoulders relaxed when she found the right one and put all the other, useless things back into his bag before tossing it to Trini, who caught it easily in one lazy hand. “I found it. Why don’t you have a go organizing his shit for him while I do his homework?”

“Oh!” Billy said excitedly, turning to Trini and pointing at his desk, letting Zack defeat him in this round of the game. “I’ve got some manila folders and labels and see-through coloured organizers. You can use them if you want?”

Trini smiled and went to carefully collect the offered folders while Kim focused solely on the work in front of her and making sure she did it to the standard Jason’s very strict English teacher expected of him. Zack was more focused on the game than anything else, and Billy was just glad he had people to play with again. Even if them being so close to his things made him a little uncomfortable and he worried too much about the things they might touch, he was glad for them being there. Besides, realistically, he knew they would never intentionally do anything to make him uncomfortable and were actually very careful with his things.

They played for a long time, so long that Billy’s eyes were started to get tired of the screen despite how dim they had made the lighting, and Trini had finished organising all the things in Jason’s backpack and had swapped with Billy, who was now sitting in her recliner reading a book while Trini played Playstation beside Zack on the couch. Unlike Billy, she had no qualms with being touched, especially at this stage in their friendship, so she didn’t mind when Jason twitched in his sleep and kicked her in the side. Kim was so focused on the homework in front of her that she didn’t notice the switch or the fact that Billy was sitting in the recliner, spacing out and reading a book.

There was a feeling of peace between all of them, and even Jason, snorting and huffing and twisting around in the blanket, didn’t break their comfortable peace.

Somewhere above, a door slammed, and Billy’s mum shouted, “Billy, I’m going out for a few hours, let me know if you need anything!” And then the front door opened and closed and then her new car was heard driving away.

At all the sudden noise, Jason jerked awake and nearly rolled off the couch at the speed at which he sat up, alert and startled, his fists already coming around to defend himself and his fingers glowing red as he started to morph into his armour. He looked tense and on edge for a moment before he blearily blinked around the room at all the familiar faces he saw sitting around him, and he relaxed back against the couch, stretching his tired muscles, as he lowered his hands and his armour faded back into nothingness. “Morning, sleepyhead,” Trini laughed from beside him and reached out to flick him on the forehead.

“Hi,” he said quietly, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. “How long have I been asleep?”

“A couple of hours,” Zack said, finally pausing the game and putting the controller down so he could turn around and face him. “You totally missed me kicking Billy’s ass though.”

Slowly, Jason sat up, looking a little like hell froze over, and wiped the drool from his chin. His hair was wild and unruly, and Trini reached over to smooth it down. Jason let her do it. “Oh- Billy,” he searched the room for his friend and finally settled on Billy, curled up on the recliner. “Sorry Billy. You were trying to tell me something before, weren’t you?”

“I was, but don’t worry about it,” Billy said, “It wasn’t important, and it’s not like we can't talk about it again some other time. I’m just glad you got some sleep. Speaking of, why... did you need to get some sleep?”

He stretched his arms up above his head and his torso contorted like a cat, and he wiped a hand down his face, licking at his lips. He sat up further in the chair and shook his head to try and clear the cloudiness from his mind. “I don’t know, I guess I haven’t been sleeping well. Sometimes I’m so tired but I’m just worried that if I fall asleep... I don’t know. It’s not like I don’t try. Sometimes it happens easily, and I’m just so exhausted that I’m asleep instantly, but other times I just can’t stop thinking about all the things that could happen if I _do_ fall asleep, and by the time I finally get tired enough to where I think I can sleep, the sun’s already coming up and dad’s on his way to the dock. Sometimes my body is tired but my mind won't switch off, and other times my mind is exhausted and my body is buzzing with energy and ready to go for the next battle. You know?”

“Overthinking?” Trini asked. “I feel that. What were you thinking about?”

“Oh you know, something bad happening to one of you and I don’t know about it until later, the town being attacked again, Rita coming back or someone even worse than her coming for the Zeo Crystal... eh, it doesn’t matter.” He waved them off with a lazy hand. “The usual. I’m sure you guys get it. I don’t need to go on and on about my problems.” He yawned again.

“Well, either way, it’s a good thing that you managed to have a nap,” Zack said. “You’ve got a lot of homework to do when you get home, so you’re lucky you got some sleep in.”

Jason’s eyes snapped open as he sat forward, fast. “Oh, shit- _homework_. That’s the reason I’m here in the first place, god _damn_ mother-” he trailed off as he caught sight of his book bag resting by Kim’s feet, her hair covering her face as she hunched over his novel and English assignment. “Uh... what are you doing with my homework...?”

Kim barely looked up, but she did brush her hair out of her face and behind her ear. “I’m saving you four days worth of pain. If you give me 15 minutes, I’ll have this done, and then all you have to do is type it up when you get home. And if you don’t do it, I’ll be reminding you. _Believe_ me.”

“Oh yeah,” Billy said, remembering. “I’ve done your history and your math, too. If you just re-write it in your own handwriting- or type it up I suppose, I think that could work, but maybe only for history- then you should be good to go. I don’t want anyone to know that I’m the one who did it, you know? It was fun actually- it gave me something to do for a couple of hours. It was mindless enough.”

If they didn’t know him any better, the Rangers would have thought that Jason was angry at them. He didn’t speak, and he didn’t move, just sat there stiff as a board with his eyes darting frantically between them. “Oh,” he said eventually, quietly, almost reverently like a prayer. “Why? You guys didn’t have to do that.”

“Of course we didn’t have to do it,” Trini said. “But we wanted to. The last thing we need is our leader falling asleep in the middle of a battle because he’s pulled five all-nighters in a row to get all his homework done.” Jason flushed at the comment. He had done that once, but never when anyone’s life was on the line. “Oh also... Kimmi!” she waved her arms and gestured to Kim for Jason’s book bag, which Kim reached down and tossed at Trini without even glancing up. Trini shoved it into Jason’s lap. “And look! I organized your bag. Your things were all over the place.”

Jason chuckled quietly to himself as he looked over the new colour coded folders in his bag. “So Kim did my English. Trini organized my things. Billy did my maths and history.” He glanced at Zack, who was lounging with his arms over the back of the couch. “What did you do, Zack?”

“I provided moral support,” Zack didn’t miss a beat. “And eye candy.”

Laughing, Trini pulled the pillow out from under her back and slapped Zack in the face with it. His eyes were closed, so he wasn’t expecting it, and he yelped when he smacked him in the nose. “Oh _please_, you _wish_ you were the eye candy. If anything, you were the entertainment- Billy kicked your ass in every match you played.”

“He did not!” Zack protested, but now even Kim and Billy were laughing, and he decided this was a battle he was better off not fighting for.

Looking between the homework in his hands and his friends all sitting around him, laughing and alive and happy, Jason felt his heart swell with pride and joy. “You guys... thanks. You didn’t need to do this. I really appreciate it. You guys are the best. You... really are.”

Billy beamed. “No worries, man. It’s all good! What else is a team for?”

“No,” Kim said, putting the pen down and closing the book to signifying that she had finally completed the homework that she’d spent an hour and a half hunched over. “What else is _family_ for?”

And she was right- because right here, right now, Jason hadn’t felt so much love and so much peace in a very long time, and somehow he knew the rest of them felt the same. His heart was full. He felt loved, and he felt happy, and really, he hadn’t felt like that in a very long time. “Yeah,” he said softly, lost in his own mind. “Family.”

**Author's Note:**

> Power Rangers (2017)? I ADORE


End file.
